Councilmanic Districts

Polls open at 7 a.m. tomorrow for Baltimore's general election. Polls close at 8 p.m.Voters will chose between Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor, City Council president, comptroller and City Council seats in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th councilmanic districts. Democratic council candidates are unopposed in the 2nd and 4th districts. The ballot includes 11 bond questions numbered A through K. The last ballot question, L, is a City Charter amendment to change the structure of the councilmanic districts from six three-member districts to 18 single-member districts.

Redistricting plan would unfairly punish Towson's residents The proposed redistricting of the seven Baltimore County councilmanic districts ("Anger greets district plan," June 5) should be seen by all for what it truly is: A blatant attempt to dilute the power of the Towson residential, business and institutional communities. A punishment of the two councilmen and their districts who dared to publicly oppose specific plans (the detention center expansion and Senate Bill 509) in last November's election.

The Howard County Board of Elections decided yesterday to implement a controversial council resolution setting up new councilmanic districts for the 1994 election, said Frank T. Lupashunski, the board's president.The district lines will take effect Jan. 30, Mr. Lupashunski said. The board's two Democrats voted for the resolution, while its lone Republican voted against it. Local Republicans have said they may challenge the resolution in court.The council passed the resolution, which is not subject to an executive veto, on Dec. 2 after County Executive Charles I. Ecker vetoed a bill setting up the new districts.

The Howard County Board of Elections decided yesterday to implement a controversial council resolution setting up new councilmanic districts for the 1994 election, said Frank T. Lupashunski, the board's president.The district lines will take effect Jan. 30, Mr. Lupashunski said. The board's two Democrats voted for the resolution, while its lone Republican voted against it. Local Republicans have said they may challenge the resolution in court.The council passed the resolution, which is not subject to an executive veto, on Dec. 2 after County Executive Charles I. Ecker vetoed a bill setting up the new districts.

A U.S. Census official told the Baltimore City Council yesterday that her department would not be able to supply Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke with current population data in time to guide the mayor's plan for new councilmanic districts, which is required by Feb. 1.Council members said that if the mayor were forced to draft a plan based on flawed population estimates, a federal judge might declare the new councilmanic districts invalid, and possibly throw next...

Three City Council members are sponsoring separate measures that would amend the city charter to make sweeping changes in the composition of the council.There are now 19 council members -- three members elected from each of six councilmanic districts plus the council president, who is elected citywide.* Councilman Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham, D-3rd, would reduce the council's size. His proposal would create 11 single-member districts and would empower the council to select the president from among the members.

If the Mount Royal Democratic Club is any bellwether, candidates for City Council in 1995 will run in single-member districts.Mount Royal last night overwhelmingly endorsed a proposed City Charter amendment -- Question L on the Nov. 5 general election ballot -- that would create 18 single-member councilmanic districts.L Currently, the charter requires six, three-member districts."One of the problems with the current setup is that your three district council representatives can pass the buck between them," said Craig Muller, an attorney and club member.

Hoping to elect a black to the Baltimore County Council, a coalition of black groups plans a petition drive to try to increase the number of councilmanic districts before the 1994 elections.Harold G. Gordon, who ran unsuccessfully for the council from the Randallstown-Pikesville district, which includes much of the county's growing black population, said the petition drive will start this summer. The goal is to gather 10,000 signatures in time to place a charter amendment before voters in November 1992.

A map of the city's new councilmanic districts in yesterday's editions of The Sun had a mistake in the southern boundary between the new 1st and 2nd councilmanic districts. The correct boundary is shown above; the shaded area shows blocks that were shifted from one district to another.After a week of emotional rhetoric, tense negotiations and back-room deals, the Baltimore City Council adopted a controversial redistricting plan yesterday that would dramatically change the boundaries of the city's six council districts, giving five of them black majorities.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has drafted a redistricting plan for the City Council that is unlikely to lay the groundwork for a significant change in the racial makeup of the council.Some members of the black community have looked hopefully to the once-per-decade redistricting as an opportunity to distribute black voting strength more equally throughout the city's six councilmanic districts so that more blacks could win seats on the 19-member City Council.Although Baltimore is more than 60 percent black, only seven members of the council are black.

Polls open at 7 a.m. tomorrow for Baltimore's general election. Polls close at 8 p.m.Voters will chose between Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor, City Council president, comptroller and City Council seats in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th councilmanic districts. Democratic council candidates are unopposed in the 2nd and 4th districts. The ballot includes 11 bond questions numbered A through K. The last ballot question, L, is a City Charter amendment to change the structure of the councilmanic districts from six three-member districts to 18 single-member districts.

Voters going to the polls Tuesday in Baltimore will have the chance to remake the Baltimore City Council in two ways -- by sending new faces to City Hall and by breaking up the three-member teams that represent each of the council's six districts.Question L, a dry charter amendment placed at the far right on the election ballot, asks voters if they favor replacing the existing six councilmanic districts in the city -- each of which sends three representatives to the council -- with 18 single-member districts.

If the Mount Royal Democratic Club is any bellwether, candidates for City Council in 1995 will run in single-member districts.Mount Royal last night overwhelmingly endorsed a proposed City Charter amendment -- Question L on the Nov. 5 general election ballot -- that would create 18 single-member councilmanic districts.L Currently, the charter requires six, three-member districts."One of the problems with the current setup is that your three district council representatives can pass the buck between them," said Craig Muller, an attorney and club member.

Three City Council members are sponsoring separate measures that would amend the city charter to make sweeping changes in the composition of the council.There are now 19 council members -- three members elected from each of six councilmanic districts plus the council president, who is elected citywide.* Councilman Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham, D-3rd, would reduce the council's size. His proposal would create 11 single-member districts and would empower the council to select the president from among the members.

Hoping to elect a black to the Baltimore County Council, a coalition of black groups plans a petition drive to try to increase the number of councilmanic districts before the 1994 elections.Harold G. Gordon, who ran unsuccessfully for the council from the Randallstown-Pikesville district, which includes much of the county's growing black population, said the petition drive will start this summer. The goal is to gather 10,000 signatures in time to place a charter amendment before voters in November 1992.

Political leaders weakened by the city's new redistricting plan are backing away from their threats to take the plan to court now that it has been signed into law.Politicians in the 3rd and 6th Councilmanic Districts -- those most affected by the changes to the borders of the city's six districts -- yesterday were talking survival and are considering fielding biracial tickets for municipal elections this fall.Previously, the dominant political clubs in those districts have fielded all-white council slates.

Political leaders weakened by the city's new redistricting plan are backing away from their threats to take the plan to court now that it has been signed into law.Politicians in the 3rd and 6th Councilmanic Districts -- those most affected by the changes to the borders of the city's six districts -- yesterday were talking survival and are considering fielding biracial tickets for municipal elections this fall.Previously, the dominant political clubs in those districts have fielded all-white council slates.

In 1971, when the Baltimore City Council carved up the city into new councilmanic districts, a number of black political activists objected that the so-called "New Plan" would dilute the voting power of the growing black population in the city's traditionally white districts.They asserted that the plan was a thinly veiled effort to solidify white control of the Council, basing their charge in part on a Baltimore City Bar Association study that concluded there were serious questions of the constitutionality of the plan because, according to the report, it attempted to minimize the political influence of black voters.

A map of the city's new councilmanic districts in yesterday's editions of The Sun had a mistake in the southern boundary between the new 1st and 2nd councilmanic districts. The correct boundary is shown above; the shaded area shows blocks that were shifted from one district to another.After a week of emotional rhetoric, tense negotiations and back-room deals, the Baltimore City Council adopted a controversial redistricting plan yesterday that would dramatically change the boundaries of the city's six council districts, giving five of them black majorities.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has drafted a redistricting plan for the City Council that is unlikely to lay the groundwork for a significant change in the racial makeup of the council.Some members of the black community have looked hopefully to the once-per-decade redistricting as an opportunity to distribute black voting strength more equally throughout the city's six councilmanic districts so that more blacks could win seats on the 19-member City Council.Although Baltimore is more than 60 percent black, only seven members of the council are black.